Pay the fine already!

Believe it or not, Exxon Mobil is still contesting the $2.5 billion punitive fine it was levied for the Valdez oil spill -- almost twenty years after the event! Exxon Mobil will argue in front of the Supreme Court today that under maritime law it owes nothing to the fisherman, residents and Native Alaskans harmed by the massive oil spill. Exxon states that it has already been punished enough by paying $3.4 billion in clean up costs. For more on the story see link

If you find this hard to believe, let me illustrate it with a hypothetical anecdote. Suppose you have a party in your home. One of your guests has a bit too much to drink and backs his car into your above ground heating oil tank, which is adjacent the garage. Luckily no one is hurt. Your neighbor witnesses the accident and immediately calls the local police. The municipal services unit of your town, in cooperation with the EPA, arrives on the scene the day after to clean up the oil -- which has seeped beyond your backyard and into a stream about 100 feet from your house. Two days later, the oil spill is cleaned up and you have a new oil tank installed by your heating oil company. It's hard to gauge the environmental impact of the accident and you hope for the best.

Your guest receives a six month license suspension and pays a $500 fine. A month later, you receive a summons to appear in court and after a brief hearing are ordered to pay the town $6,800 in clean up costs and a fine of $5,000. Since you earn about $80,000, the fines will sting but not bankrupt you. Your attorney successfully files a motion allowing you to pay for the clean up costs but appeal the fine. 20 years later, through appeals and legal maneuvers, you still haven't paid the fine. Most of your neighbors no longer speak to you out of principle.

This is exactly what Exxon Mobil has done. The numbers are proportionate. The company made $40 billion in profits last year. A $2.5 billion fine would sting but not bankrupt. Exxon Mobil doesn't seem to care what most people think of it.